SuoquanYishen formula improves renal cellular senescence by inhibiting YTHDF1-Rubicon axis to promote autophagy in diabetic kidney disease

SuoquanYishen formula (SQYSF), a traditional Chinese herbal prescription for treating diabetic kidney disease (DKD), has demonstrated clinical efficacy in lowering blood glucose and alleviating renal damage. Emerging evidence implicates cellular senescence as a critical contributor to DKD progression. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism by which SQYSF improves renal cellular senescence using both in vivo (db/db mice) and in vitro (high glucose-induced HK-2 cells) DKD models, with interventions involving SQYSF aqueous extract and SQYSF-containing serum. We screened 59 chemical compounds by UHPLC-QTOF-MS and used network pharmacology approach to discover that autophagy and cellular senescence are important pathways for pharmacological treatment of disease. Experimental validation demonstrated that senescence and damage occurred in the kidneys of db/db mice and HK-2 cells under high glucose environment, and SQYSF ameliorated these abnormal changes. Then, we also found that SQYSF enhanced autophagy in renal tissues and cells, whereas co-treatment with the autophagy inhibitor Bafilomycin A1 abolished SQYSF’s anti-senescence effects. Notably, DKD progression was associated with elevated Rubicon expression at mRNA and protein levels, accompanied by increased m6A modification. While SQYSF effectively downregulated Rubicon mRNA and protein expression, it did not influence m6A modification levels. Further investigation identified that SQYSF was able to target to reduce YTHDF1 expression level. Overexpression of YTHDF1 in HK-2 cells increased Rubicon mRNA stability and protein expression, while concurrently reversing SQYSF-induced autophagy enhancement and senescence amelioration. These results suggest that SQYSF exerts its role in ameliorating renal cellular senescence in DKD by targeting to reduce the expression level of YTHDF1, which inhibits the level of Rubicon mRNA and protein translation, and thus promotes autophagy. Our results reveal the active components and mechanisms of SQYSF for the treatment of DKD, which may provide useful information to guide the clinical application of SQYSF as well as the therapeutic pathway for DKD.